Chapter 69 160 Nan Jiyun Borrows Soldiers

Xu Yuan, the prefect of Suiyang, had a higher status than Zhang Xun, but he knew that Zhang Xun was good at using troops, wise and brave, so he asked Zhang Xun to command the defense of the city.The rebel general Yin Ziqi led 130,000 men to attack the city, while the combined strength of Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan was only more than 6,000. The strength of the two sides was very different.Zhang Xun led his troops to stand firm and fought fiercely with the rebels for 16 days, capturing more than 60 enemy generals and annihilating more than 20,000 enemy troops, forcing Yin Ziqi to retreat. After two months, Yin Ziqi received reinforcements, surrounded Suiyang City tightly, and attacked in every possible way.Although Zhang Xun won several victories in succession, the rebels came and went, and the situation became more and more urgent.

One night, Zhang Xun called the soldiers to beat the drums and ordered the whole team to form.The rebels outside the city heard the drums in the city, and quickly set up their positions, ready to confront.By daybreak, Tang Jun hadn't left the city yet.Yin Ziqi sent people to climb to a high place to have a look, and saw that the city was quiet and there was no movement at all, so he ordered the soldiers to take off their armor and rest.Many rebel soldiers were nervous all night, and fell asleep as soon as they fell to the ground. At this time, Zhang Xun, Lei Wanchun, Nan Jiyun and a dozen other generals each led fifty cavalry, opened the gates of the city and rushed out, splitting their routes and rushing towards the enemy camp.The rebels were unprepared, the formation was in chaos, and more than 5,000 people were killed by the Tang army.

Zhang Xun wanted to shoot and kill Yin Ziqi when Yin Ziqi came out to command.But Yin Ziqi is a cunning guy, and he is always accompanied by several generals when he goes into battle.They wore the same uniforms and rode the same horses, so Tang Jun couldn't tell which one was the main general.Zhang Xun came up with a way.Once, when the two armies were facing each other, Zhang Xun asked the soldiers to shoot an arrow cut from wild wormwood into the enemy's formation. When the rebel soldiers picked up the arrow, they thought that the arrows in the city had been used up, and they were very happy. Take the arrow and report to Yin Ziqi.

Just as Yin Ziqi received the Hao arrow in his hand, Zhang Xun on the top of the wall saw it, and immediately ordered Nan Jiyun beside him to shoot the arrow at Yin Ziqi.Nan Jiyun was a good archer in the first place, so he shot an arrow straight at Yin Ziqi's left eye.Yin Ziqi covered his face, yelled, and fell off the horse.Zhang Xun ordered to go out of the city to charge and kill, and won another big victory. Yin Ziqi failed to attack the city, but instead lost one eye, so he was not willing to give up.He went back to heal his wounds for a while, and then brought tens of thousands of troops to surround Suiyang like an iron bucket.More and more soldiers gathered outside the city, and fewer and fewer soldiers fought inside the city.Later, there were only more than 1,600 people left in Suiyang City, and the food was cut off. The soldiers of the Tang army were only allocated one he (sound ge, one-tenth of a liter) of rice every day. Paper and fire to eat.In the end, there was not even a grain of rice left.The soldiers couldn't stand it anymore, and one by one they collapsed from starvation.

The situation is getting more and more critical.Zhang Xun had no choice but to send Nan Jiyun with 30 cavalry to stand out from the encirclement and go to Linhuai (in the northwest of Xuyi, Jiangsu Province today) to borrow troops. The general He Lan Jinming (He Lan's surname) stationed in Linhuai was afraid of the rebels and refused to send troops to rescue Suiyang.Seeing that Nan Jiyun was a brave general, he wanted to keep Nan Jiyun as his subordinate, so he specially held a banquet for Nan Jiyun and invited all the generals to accompany him. Nan Jiyun's heart was burning with anxiety, how could he drink wine.With tears in his eyes, he said excitedly: "The soldiers and civilians in Suiyang have not eaten a grain of rice for more than a month. How can I bear to eat here? Even if I eat, how can I swallow it? The general has soldiers. Seeing the fall of Suiyang City, and refusing to send troops to rescue, is that what loyal ministers and righteous men should do?" Then, he bit off one of his fingers, and his mouth was bloody, and said angrily, "Jiyun can't finish it." The Lord will give me the mission, so I have to leave this finger as a witness, so I can have an account when I go back."

The officials who attended the banquet were shocked when they saw it, and covered their faces with their sleeves, and some couldn't help crying. Knowing that He Lan Jinming refused to send troops, Nan Jiyun had no choice but to leave Linhuai and borrow 3,000 soldiers from other places to return to Suiyang.When they arrived at the edge of Suiyang City, they were discovered by the rebels and surrounded them again.Nan Jiyun led his men and horses on a rampage and started a bloody battle under the city. Zhang Xun heard the sound of fighting outside the city and knew that General Nan was coming back, so he opened the city gate, killed the enemies, and brought Nan Jiyun and a group of soldiers into the city, leaving only a thousand people behind.After Nan Jiyun reported the situation of borrowing soldiers to Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan, the soldiers in the city burst into tears when they heard that borrowing soldiers was hopeless.

Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan discussed repeatedly and believed that Suiyang was the barrier of Jianghuai.In order to defend Jianghuai and prevent the rebels from going south, they decided to defend Suiyang to the death.When the food in the city ran out, they boiled the bark to eat; when the bark was eaten, they killed the horses; when the horses were killed, they had to catch sparrows and mice to feed the soldiers. The soldiers and common people in the city were moved by Zhang Xun's spirit of fighting to the death. They clearly knew that there was no hope for them to hold on, and none of them defected.

In the end, there were only 400 people left in the city. Yin Ziqi led the rebels to climb to the top of the city with ladders. The defenders on the top of the city were so hungry that they didn't even have the strength to use their bows and arrows. In October 757 AD, Suiyang City finally fell.Thirty-six generals including Zhang Xun, Xu Yuan, Lei Wanchun, and Nan Jiyun were all captured. The traitor tied them up one by one and forced them to surrender.They put the knife on Zhang Xun's neck. Zhang Xun sneered and scolded the traitor.Next it was Nan Jiyun's turn, but Nan Jiyun didn't make a sound.

Zhang Xun turned his face to Nan Jiyun and shouted: "Nan Ba ​​(Nan Jiyun is ranked eighth)! A man dies when he dies, but he can't surrender in front of the traitors! " Nan Jiyun smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Zhang. I'm thinking about how to deal with them. How can I be afraid of death?" Knowing that they would not give in, the traitor finally killed them. Henan Jiedu envoy Zhang Hao got the news that Suiyang was in danger, so he quickly dispatched troops and marched to Suiyang to repel Yin Ziqi's rebel army. Suiyang city had fallen for three days.After another seven days, Guo Ziyi led the Tang army to recover Luoyang.

Thanks to Zhang Xun's persistence, the Jianghuai area south of Suiyang was not destroyed by the rebels.